2015 DETROIT LIONS MEDIA GUIDE

It was, legend says, a typically colorful, probably
chilly, November day in 1622 that Pilgrims and Native
Americans celebrated the new world’s bounty with
a sumptuous feast.
They sat together at Plymouth Plantation (they
spelled it Plimouth) in Massachusetts, gave thanks
for the goodness set before them, then dined on
pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, maize, cranberry sauce,
turkey and who knows what else.
Actually, fish was just as predominant a staple.
And history books say pumpkin pie really debuted
a year later. But regardless of the accuracy of the
details, that’s how Thanksgiving Day is seen by
Americans -- except Detroiters.
They may have most of the same images as
everyone else, but with a new twist that began in
1934.
That’s when Detroiters and their outstate
Michigan compatriots found themselves at the dawn
of an unplanned behavior modification, courtesy of
George A. “Dick” Richards, owner of the city’s new
entry in the National Football League: The Detroit
Lions.
Larry Paladino, Lions Pride, 1993
Four generations of Detroiters have been a proud
part of the American celebration of Thanksgiving. The
relationship between Detroit and Thanksgiving dates
back to 1934 when owner G.A. Richards scheduled a
holiday contest between his first-year Lions and the
Chicago Bears. Some 80 years later, fans throughout
the State of Michigan have transformed an annual
holiday event into the single greatest tradition in the
history of American professional team sports. Indeed,
if football is America’s passion, Thanksgiving
football is Detroit’s passion.
The game was the brainchild of Richards, the
first owner of the Detroit Lions. Richards had
purchased the team in 1934 and moved the club from
Portsmouth, Ohio to the Motor City. The Lions were
the new kids in town and had taken a backseat to
the baseball Tigers. Despite the fact the Lions had
lost only one game prior to Thanksgiving in 1934,
the season’s largest crowd had been just 15,000.
The opponent in 1934 was the undefeated,
defending World Champion Chicago Bears. The
game would determine the champion of the Western
Division. Richards had convinced the NBC Radio
Network to carry the game coast-to-coast (94
stations) and additionally, an estimated 26,000 fans
jammed into the University of Detroit Stadium while
thousands more disappointed fans were turned away.
The game was the NFL's first on a national broadcast.
In 2009, the Lions Thanksgiving Day game against
DETROIT LIONS
LIONS THANKSGIVING DAY TRADITION
Green Bay marked the NFL’s 75th anniversary of
the first NFL national game broadcast. Graham
McNamee was the announcer for NBC Radio for
that historic game in 1934.
Despite two Ace Gutowsky touchdowns,
the Bears won the inaugural game 19-16, but
a classic was born. Since 1934, 74 games have
been played with the Lions holding a 35-38-2
(.480) record in the series. And each game, in
its own way, continues to bring back memories
of Thanksgiving, not only to Lions fans, but to
football fans across the nation.
The 2015 schedule features the Lions’ 76th
Thanksgiving Day Classic Thursday, November
26 at 12:30 p.m. ET vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.
This year’s game marks only the second alltime
meeting between the Lions and Eagles
on Thanksgiving since they first met in 1968.
Detroit is 35-38-2 all-time on Thanksgiving Day,
and Detroit has claimed wins on Thanksgiving in
each of the past two seasons.
THANKSGIVING DAY FACTS
‣ ¾The series began with a 19-16 loss to the
Chicago Bears on November 29, 1934.
‣ ¾A total of 75 games have been played with the
Lions owning a 35-38-2 record in the annual
holiday classic.
‣ ¾More than 4 million fans have witnessed the
Lions’ 75 Thanksgiving Day games. The total
attendance for the first 75 games is 4,243,190,
an average of 56,575 fans per game.
‣ ¾The Lions have played 24 different teams
since the first Thanksgiving Day game. The
most common opponent has been the Green
Bay Packers, who the Lions played in 2013
for the 21st time in the Thanksgiving series.
Their second most common opponent is the
Chicago Bears (15 times).
‣ ¾The two highest scoring games were a 44-40
Packers’ win in 1986 and a 52-35 Detroit romp
over Green Bay in 1951.
‣ ¾The lowest scoring game was a 12-0
Philadelphia win in the 1968 “Mud Bowl.”
‣ ¾Eleven times in the series has a game been
decided by three points or less, with the Lions’
record standing at 4-5-2 in those meetings.
‣ ¾The most lopsided game was a 45-3 Lions win
over Pittsburgh in 1983.
‣ ¾Seven shutouts have been recorded, but only
one by the Lions (20-0 over the Bears in 1979).
‣ ¾Three Thanksgiving Day games have gone into
overtime. The first came in 1980 when the
Bears’ David Williams returned the opening
kickoff of OT for a 95-yard touchdown. At the
time, the game marked the shortest overtime
game in NFL history (21 seconds). The second
overtime game occurred in 1998 when the
Lions defeated the Steelers 19-16 on a 42-
yard Jason Hanson field goal in a game that
will be remembered for the controversial
coin toss before overtime began. The third
occurred against the Houston Texans in 2012
in a game categorized by back-and-forth
possessions and two missed field goals from
each side, with Houston K Shayne Graham
pulling out a 32-yarder for the win.
HISTORY